Posts Tagged ‘Obama’

Students of history, of journalism, of sociology: mark this month in your diaries. Mark this month well, because this is the month that what was formally called “mainstream” media was officially pronounced dead.

It’s been a nice ride for traditional media outlets. We’ve had our fair share of fun along to way. But now it is over. Almost 4 years to the day that “Rathergate” showed ordinary citizens taking on Big Media and winning, the last two weeks have completely, totally, and utterly demonstrated the sheer irrelevancy of traditional media outlets and their biased and outdated methods of news dissemination.

The gatekeepers of information have finally been vanquished. No longer are they able to sit upon their lofty heights, determining what information they deem fit for the public to know about. In their stead, an army of citizen-journalists has arisen. The people have become the fourth estate. We are the media now. You don’t have to trust Hollywood or Manhatten anymore, because the game is over. Sure, they will linger around for a few years longer in their death-throws, and of course current outlets will continue in some form, but as of this week, no-one can say Big Media should be taken seriously. They are beyond redemption.

At this point, if you get your news primarily from Big Media outlets, you may wonder what I am talking about, or whether I’ve gone slightly crazy. After all, nothing really happened the last few weeks, did it? Sure a few right-wing extremists got angry at a few things, but that always happens – right? I mean there was nothing special about the last 3 weeks, right?

Wrong. Because in the last three weeks three massive, huge, enormous, game-changing political things happening. Any one of these by and of itself might not have meant much, but together, the political landscape in the U.S. has been irrevocably altered in the last three weeks. And Big Media missed all three.

Let us review events as they happened, and embark on tales of corruption, embezzlement, undercover operations, child prostitution and the American Left.

On late Friday evening, President Obama made the first major trade decision of his Administration. He decided to impose a 35% tax hike on imported tyres from China. In doing so, he not only hurt American families, already struggling with the high cost of transportation, our troubled auto industry, which relies on imports to stay competitive, but also has sparked a major international trade war. Already China announced dumping and subsidy probes of chicken and auto products from the U.S. Most expect this dispute to escalate even further with the potential of a fully fledged job-destroying trade war.

Make no mistake – there is near unanimous consensus that tarriffs like this are bad policy. A near-unanimous 93% of economists – from all accross the political spectrum – believe “tarrifs reduce economic welfare”. It is interesting to note that the Chinese government responded by stating “China has always steadfastly opposed trade protectionism,” and that China was “willing to continue acting in concert with other nations to promote a global economic recovery as soon as possible.” When China starts attacking you for deviating from free market policies, you really need to start thinking…

February 2: In order to ensure “What happens in Chicago, stays in Chicago” by preventing corruption and kickbacks arising from the “stimulus” bill, ATR asks each Member of Congress planning to vote for the bill to sign a statement promising that they, their family, and the members of their staff will not personally benefit from the bill. All refuse.

February 4: On the sixteenth day of his presidency, Obama breaks one of the central promises of his campaign by singing into law a 156 percent increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco, a hike of 61 cents per pack, to take effect April 1. Obama promised repeatedly on the campaign trail that he would never raise any form of taxes on those making less than $250,000 per year, for example:

“I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes”

This tax increase will fall squarely on the shoulders of the middle- and low-income Americans Obama said he would not raise taxes on: 55 percent of smokers are “working poor”, one in four smokers live below the poverty line, and on average, smokers, whose median income is a little more than $36,000 make about 30 percent less than non-smokers.

February 9: Obama holds his first press conference, during which he calls for massive government spending increases. He fails to provide a single historical example where a government increased spending which led to increased jobs, income, and wealth on any sustainable basis.Obama also has the audacity to claim the “stimulus” plan is free of pet projects and earmarks:

“What it does not contain, however, is a single pet project, not a single earmark, and it has been stripped of the projects members of both parties found most objectionable.”

Responding to a reporter’s question as to what specific metric the American people should use to determine whether Obama’s programs are working, Obama replies:

“We will have to adapt our program as conditions change. We will have to try things we’ve never tried before. We will make mistakes. We will go through periods in which things get worse and progress is uneven or interrupted.”

The Dow falls 380 points.

February 12, sometime around 10:00 PM: The “Stimulus” conference report is completed behind closed doors. Less than sixteen hours pass before the bill is taken up by the House.

Friday, February 13

2:24 PM: With not a single Member voting for the bill having claimed to have actually read it, the House passes the conference report for H.R.1, the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”.

5:29 PM: With not a single Member voting for the bill having claimed to have actually read it, the Senate passes the conference report for H.R. 1.

The Dow falls 82 points.

February 17: Obama signs the “Stimulus” bill and violates his pledge to the American people that he will allow legislation to be posted online for five full days before signing it. The stimulus bill was posted for only four days, not five.”

“Since the Great Depression” – The economic one, not the feeling you’ve had since he signed the “stimulus” bill.

“Save or create” jobs – Obama’s new metric whereby he can claim credit for the outcome no matter what happens (how exactly does one determine the number of “saved” jobs?)

“Crisis” – Excuse to hike taxes and grow the government per Rahm Emanuel’s theory: “Never let a crisis go to waste.”

“Stimulus” – The 1,000 page Pelosi-Reid-Obama pork bill rushed through in the dead of night with no transparency and that not a single member of Congress who voted for it actually read.

“Hope” – The optimistic expectation, against all evidence that this government will be the first in the history of time to succeed in spending its way out of economic problems.

“Change” – Take-home pay of future generations due to massive spending increases and government expansion.

“Bipartisan” – “Pelosi and Reid get to decide what we’ll do, but I’ll have you over for tea first.”

“Children and grandchildren” – The people picking up the tab.

“Shovel-ready” – Vital projects that somehow are not important enough to receive funding through the regular appropriations process at the local, state, or federal level.

“Toxic assets”– Now the responsibility of those who followed the rules and made wise decisions.

“Failed policies of the past” – An overspending problem by George W. Bush to be expanded by Obama

“Investment” – Government spending.

“Sacrifice” – Tax hikes.

“As I’ve said before” – Prepare for a poll tested line from stump speeches.

“Make work pay” – Writing welfare checks through the tax code (and then calling it a tax cut).

“Climate change” – (Formerly known as Global Warming) The natural cycles of the sun and the four seasons.

“FDR” – The last President to attempt and fail to spend the country’s way out of a hole.

“Let me be clear” – Warning to “have your shovel ready.”

“Executive pay” – A serious problem because large cash awards are only appropriate when politicians dole out taxpayer money to the pet projects of their sons, brothers, wives, or campaign contributors.

One of the things I’ve noticed living in the United States is the deference that holders of the Office of President receive. Not in so much regarding the superficial – they retain their titles for life, have libraries in their honor and so forth – but rather how they are often viewed as transcending party politics: they rise up, bridge the partisan divide, and do what’s right for the nation. Great figures, visionaries, leaders of men.

Yet nowhere is this more pronounced than in the elevation of Barak Obama to the status of demi-god. This is seen everywhere, from people swooning in his presence and being healed just by touching his clothes (metaphorically speaking), to the hilariously collectible kitche. Yet beneath the jubilation, there lurks a hidden danger in what Gene Healy termed “The Cult of the Presidency”.

“In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our economy and reduced productivity. Steps will be taken aimed at restoring the balance between the various levels of government. Progress may be slow, measured in inches and feet, not miles, but we will progress. It is time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden. And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles there will be no compromise.”

—Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981 Inaugural Address

“At this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe.”